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Paella

Saffron rice cooked flat and undisturbed over chicken, chorizo & seafood — the crackly bottom crust is the prize

Serves 4–6 · 25 min

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  • The base
  • 3 Tbsp olive oil
  • 2 chicken thighs, cut in chunks (bone-in or boneless)
  • 4 oz Spanish chorizo, sliced
  • 1 onion, diced · 1 red bell pepper, sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tomato, grated (or ½ cup crushed)
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika (pimentón) · pinch cayenne
  • Rice & liquid
  • 2 cups bomba or Calasparra rice (see notes)
  • 5 cups warm chicken or seafood stock
  • big pinch saffron threads, crushed (steep in a little warm stock)
  • 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
  • To finish
  • 12 shrimp · 1 lb mussels or clams, scrubbed
  • ½ cup peas or cut green beans
  • lemon wedges · chopped parsley
What you need
  1. Brown the meats. Heat the oil in a wide shallow pan over medium-high; brown the chicken and chorizo, then set aside. Leave the fat and fond behind.
  2. Build the sofrito. Lower the heat; cook the onion and pepper until soft, add garlic, then the grated tomato, paprika, and cayenne. Cook it down to a dark, jammy paste, 5–8 min.
  3. Toast the rice. Stir in the rice and let it toast in the sofrito 1–2 min so each grain is coated. This is the last time you stir.
  4. Add liquid & spread flat. Pour in the warm saffron stock and salt, return the chicken and chorizo, and shake the pan to settle the rice into one even layer. Bring to a simmer.
  5. Simmer undisturbed, 10 min. Keep a steady simmer across the whole pan (rotate it if your burner is uneven) — do not stir, or you'll make risotto, not paella.
  6. Nestle the seafood & veg. Tuck in the shrimp, mussels (hinge-down), and peas or beans. Cook another ~8 min, until the rice is just tender, the liquid is gone, and the mussels open (discard any that stay shut).
  7. Chase the socarrat. Listen for a faint crackle and smell for toasty-not-burnt; give it 1–2 min on higher heat to crisp the bottom crust. Rest off heat 5 min under a towel, then serve from the pan with lemon and parsley.
Steps — tap one to keep your place

✨ Untested — Claude drafted this one from scratch; it hasn't been cooked and amended in our kitchen yet, so treat the amounts as a starting point. Low salt — salt at the end and taste as you go; broth, cheese, and canned goods already bring salt.

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